Game in a nutshell: The final game of this year's Battle of the Beltways featured a taut pitcher's duel, with the Nationals plating one early run (via a Ryan Zimmerman RBI single, of all things) and then hoping beyond hope baseball's best pitching staff could make that one run hold up all afternoon. They very nearly pulled it off, with Ross Detwiler tossing five scoreless innings in his return to the rotation and Craig Stammen tossing two scoreless innings of relief. But Sean Burnett, who had given up just one home run over his last 50 appearances, served up a towering, two-run shot to Matt Wieters in the bottom of the eighth. And just like that, the Nationals were subjected to a crushing, 2-1 loss that clinched the season series for Baltimore (4-2).

Hitting highlight: Barely 24 hours after finally admitting his shoulder is bothering him and affecting his performance, it was only fitting thatRead more »

are there any stats to bare this out… is this Nats offense the WORST since the club has been in DC? Imagine if we did not have the itching staff we have, this club would have 60 losses by now, easily. Pathetic performance as usual by the offense, very frustrating. AB's are very weak among the so-called stars, exception is Harper

YaaY! The Nats are still in 1st place! With no offense either. Thanks to the offence (pun intended), I lost a bet. And now have to listen to 19 workers tomorrow about how the Nats suck because the blows beat them for the series.Thanks Davey, Thanks Eckstein! Sorry if I'm pissed, but I feel like Mick now…

Hitting frustrations aside, the Nats did more than survive during this brutal 32-game run. They opened up distance on most of their rivals.Records since May 18:Nats 18-14Mets 18-16Braves 14-18Phillies 13-18Marlins 14-20

The Nats are going nowhere fast with this offense. Can you say fools gold? I was just at Coors Field for the Angels series and the Rockies are one of the worst teams I have ever seen without Tulo, and they could very well give the Nationals fits because the Nats cannot score runs off of even very bad pitchers. That series will tell us a lot about just how bad this offense really is right now.

Someone mentioned earlier that we could not win in August like this. The August schedule is much more friendly than these last 32 games. They played above most posters expectations in this stretch, and it solidifies my belief we are a year ahead of schedule.

Can we say FIRST PLACE NATIONALS??? We got through one of the roughest patches in our schedule and are heading out to Coors. Morse (about whom I have plenty of doubts) can bop a few and Harper will have a PARTY. RZ got two hits and fielded like what, 3 web gems, and almost won the game single-handed.My only annoyance is the $$$$$save rule. Clipp might have been pitching the 8th to their best pitchers–when Storen comes back I hope Davey throws the save stat in the garbage can where it belongs.Mark, I know you tweeted it was a devastating lost, but I don't see how. The offense was terrible but Burnett gave up a dinger, and that was that. Tight defense, RZ got two hits, Harper had fun, the Nats are fun. Let's have fun in Colorado!!!!

Need to trade for a bat. One of Lombo or Espi, and a reliever should fetch a solid bat. No playoff teams have this many guys hitting .230. Not sure Morse or Zim will turn it around. See no reason Tyler more isn't out there everyday. He's probably our hottest hitter over the past few weeks. Ankiel should never start another game ever again.

Ross is still immature and tends to be emotional. Gio also gets very emotional and lets it affect his game. He's older and more experienced and usually settles in , but not always. They all have a different demeanor. Ross still needs a lot of coaching and experience. He has also been jerked around more than anyone else on the team. I think maybe he needs some of that unconditional support that a lot of the more veteran players have gotten. The impotent offense does have me concerned. I also hope that they don't count the Rockies out and look at this as an easy series after that tough gauntlet. If they do they will be creamed. We have survived the NLEast/ALEast gauntlet pretty well with some highs and some lows. We rarely get trounced and we never trounce anyone else. It's a tightrope every single night. Time for a change of scenery – maybe the offense will get going.

DJB, you are simply not watching the same team I'm watching. Stras, Gio, JZ and EJax will hold 'em. Gio may not give up any homers (even in Coors), the other guys might give up one or two but they won't walk people so the homeruns will be solos.Meanwhile, Lombo will get on base and—-Desi, Espy, Harper, ALR, and maybe Morse will have a PARTY. We have power hitters on this team.

Very frustrating loss to 2012's luckiest team. The pitching cannot hold out forever, but to implode against the franchise most responsible for keeping baseball out of dc for so long is infuriating. The Nats could have won this series 5-1, but ended up on the short side for the third time in five years, many by crushing defeats. I wonder if Davey realizes how badly us fans want to win these games. You see the Baltimore guys managing the games like they are all the 7th game of the world series. Writers caught today and in all three games and ended up being the late game hero. All us Nats fans now have to listen to all the crap from our Angelo's loving coworkers and so called friends. And we still have to read O's game coverage in the post. Losing these games are slaps in the face to us all. Today was an easy win if the Nats could hit even like a aaa team. Arrieta had nothing today all kinds of hitters counts and one lousy run. C'mon guys! I agree with the folks now. This team is not going anywhere. The offense is too weak. And it's looking like we will have to endure the O's in the playoffs to boot. Crap.

I feel for you, Unknown, but these are just games, to me. I care inordinately when they lose to the Marlins. I care when they lose to the Phillies in DC, with their fans in our park. These are just games.

Some people totally over value their minor league inventory. I mean who in our system equates to a Trumbo – Trout combo and where are the friggin' Angels.Anybody that thinks Tyler Moore or Steve Lombardozzi are even remotely in that class is seriously on some good stuff. And if you think Brown or Marrero are answers, you don't even know the question.

No team with an offense remotely this bad has made the World Series in probably 24 years…dating back to the 1988 Dodgers. Pitching and defense can only take you so far. World Series teams have very good to great offenses, as well. Even the Giants of 2010 look like the 1927 Yankees next to these guys.

This is still a first place contender team…with this pitching staff, you don't need a lot of runs to win…it will be frustrating since their offense usually starts late after we get to other teams inferior bullpens. I'd just like to see less strikeouts from our offense. Will have to live with our .238 BA (3rd worst in NL) for a while longer.Adding Tyler Moore to the mix will help with pop. Imagine where we'd be without Harper in the lineup.

NJ, no one thinks that (or I don't). Marrero BA .298 in his minor-league rehab, however. Might be a good trade chip (or Moore might be). Trout is a wonder–so what? Angels are not in our league, not to worry.

Now everybody go do something you enjoy, and try to forget all about baseball for the rest of the day.Thanks for the perspective, 1a, but that's a contradiction in terms. Maybe I'll go hit for a while.

Second the thanks for the stats from Drew.I also found the loss frustrating, but am glad that the O's (and joint broadcasts – ick) are now in the rear-view mirror. Also in the rear-view mirror, that Dreaded AL/NL East Stretch. ahhh…In other news, why are we still having that tired old argument about who knows more or who is a better fan? Everyone knows that the biggest Nats fan is Isabella. Duh. :-)Now everybody go do something you enjoy, and try to forget all about baseball for the rest of the day. I think I'm gonna go have a smoothie. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Look, people.- Fillies and Fish, nada.- Barfs, good but they have Fredi as their manager.- Mets, actually, I would worry about the Mets. RA Dickey alone can win 30 games for them, and David Wright can win another 25, and they do have other players on the team.Nats just need to hang in there, plug away, beat the bad teams and not go on long losing streaks and the division is ours. Rizzo needs to get another SP and a medium-level bat.

I think it is time to start an Ichiro to the Nationals rumor…who should the Nats trade to get him? Would give us a crowded outfield, but you could easily rotate 4 OF's with Morse playing 1B every 5th day or so.

NatsLady… thanks…all I wanted to do is show that we really have no one in our system that can provide immediate help.I really like Moore but he still needs developement and Lombo is strictly a utility guy and only at 2b or left with an occaisional spot at 3rd.

what I am really upset at is that there was no role for Tyler Moore in this game… this is where Davey loses me. The reason this is a very bad loss is because Arieta's ERA is almost 6 runs per game, I will repeat 6 runs per game!!! Why does Eckstein get a pay check???

I'm sure by finally admitting he's been playing through some pain, Zimmerman was able to go out there today feeling like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulder. Sometimes it's hard to accomplish anything when you're in constant self denial.

I hate to say it, Sofa, but this loss will help me get my house clean. When we win, I spend WAY too much time reviewing every play, every blog, article, etc. etc. When we lose, I prefer cleaning the bathroom.

All you need to know about Lombo is that Davey is waiting for DeRosa to give RZ a break. Lombo is pro and a hustler, but he is not someone you build your team around. He came up with a lot of adrenalin and an unknown quantity to the pitchers. All along Davey and Rizzo said he was a "super utility guy," and that's what he is. Davey played the hot hand (as he should) until it cooled.I feel bad for RZ when the novocain wears off. Would have been nice to win this one because he really put in the effort.

NatsNut…….baseball requires an extremely terrible memory. The best players AND the best teams relate to the situation for about 5 seconds then move on to the next pitch, the next at bat, the next ball hit their way or the next game.They leave it to clowns like us to go over every detail and expound on how todays failures and how it will affect every game from here on out.

Hitting and winning draws fans while pitching and defense win championships. Nats are still in 1st place and are winning with pitching. If the Natnobs had their way they would have cut ALR at the beginning of the season, traded for a bat instead of Gio and signed a free agent bat instead of EJax and been crying in their beer about being in last place with a good batting average with a rotation of Straz and Zimm with 3 days of rain.Grow up people, the Nats are in 1st in a year earlier than expected.

Now that we are back to nl ball and not this inter league garbage I think things will improve. Everyone knows what a joke the dh is. We also played the al east. All good teams. And those of you who want all these changes just remember. NATS STILL UP 3 GAMES?

Secret, I don't want a lotta changes. I think Rizzo should go for another SP because even if Det/Wang work out, they need another body when Stras is shutdown and I don't see much in Syracuse that I like. Also, another medium-level bat. I would not give much in prospects for the bat, but if there is a team that wants one prospect and a salary dump I would give one prospect and some $$ for a good bat. Tracy will be coming back so that will improve the bench.

If you go back to last October and November's blogs hardly anyone on these threads were talking playoff possibilities. Now, thanks to the pitchers that Rizzo has put together, and Johnson's managing, we are near the end of June, just came off of the toughest 32 game run imaginable with an 18-14 record, playoffs are still very possible,still in first place, and most of what I hear is gloom and doom. You sound like a bunch of Phans. I think we have a team that can win the NL East title. We probably don't have a team to make it to a WS title, but hey, we are in first place and heading towards what should be a little easier part of the schedule. And we are young, we do have future stars coming up in the next couple of years, and we have one of the best GM's in baseball. Get some new Ray Bans as the future is looking bright, and it ain't all smoke and mirrors. GYFNG!!!

NatsNut – I thought I was the only one who did those things…. I think it's really hard to gauge where we are right now after this last few weeks. Going into it I was terrified and I think I would have taken this record. The way it happened was strange – the 2 sweeps of al teams, followed by being the sweepee.It's been a battle. Along with that you have Morse in spring training, Zim battling his body, a starting pitching change – again, Danny working out his demons. It's just been crazy. Even though it's very frustrating I think it's just going to be a day to day grind. We got to first place somehow, we have managed to stay there for a considerable time, during a horrible schedule. Who the heck knows what'll happen next. Isn't that why we hold our breath and watch?

Natslady – I am going to disagree just a tad about the starting pitching. I liked what I saw today from Det and his era is headed under 3.0 if he keeps this up. Assuming no injuries, we should be fine. Hopefully Wang keeps throwing quality bullpen sessions and figures out whats going on and when we do shut Stras down we will still have 3 #1 type pitchers, plus Det and hopefully Wang will deliver as well. I really am a stand-pat kind of fake GM and last time I looked we were 12 games over .500, 3 games in the lead and just got through 32 tough games.I am not letting the gloom and doom people wear me down. I hated losing to the O's and will have to wear orioles gear to a game next year because of it but the Braves lost, hopefully the Mets will lose and we will remain on top by over 3 games. Go NatS!!

Fear, Morse is not going to play first base. Ever. Morse would have to go back to the minors to learn to field the position and that is not going to happen. Also, you have Moore and Marrero ahead of him, both of whom can hit and can field the position (not so sure on Moore, but it is his "natural" position). As long as Morse can throw the ball reasonably well he will be in the outfield.

sjm308, I like your thought, and it would be GREAT if Det can pitch past 5 innings and Wang recovers his sinker (you know that I am rooting for him). But the chances of both happening by the deadline are remote, plus we have been SO lucky that none of the Ferocious Four have missed a single start.Rizzo has to play the odds. He will have to get another starting pitcher.

And I agree with Jack in that Tyler Moore and Steve Lombardozzi are,at this time, good role players. I like Corey Brown but fiqure there must be something that we aren't seeing because the brains obviously are not sold on him. I don't quite understand what it is though. He is a better defensive OF then Moore, or Lombo, will ever be, as he has a better arm and is faster then either of them. He's a good baserunner. He hits for some power, and has reduced his K's dramatically. And he knows how to bunt, both for a sacrifice, and for a hit. What's his weakness, Jack?

Just hoping for a 2 lead at the all star break. Those of you upset cause we lost to bmore?. Who cares. They go into one column or the other in the standings. If w e get to 100 games and still in first get your playoff tickets.

rdexposfan-The vast majority of teams to win championships all have very good to great offensive production. Look up the list of World Series winners and every one of them had a very good offense and most had just mediocre to good pitching. Look at the most dominant pitching staff any of us has ever seen…the Braves…they only won one time because they didn't have the offense. The Yankees win all of the time because of their hitting and usually 2 good pitchers. Same rings true for almost every team to win a World Series. You can never be a great team without offense. Murderer's Row, The Gashouse Gang, The Big Red Machine, The Bronx Bombers, The Family in Pittsburgh, etc. Almost every team I can think of who has won has had at least 1 HOF hitter in his prime. Furthermore, go through the list of World Series Champions and see how many pitchers you can name off of each team…not many!!! People that say pitching and defense win championships are just plain wrong…pitching may keep you in contention, but very few teams have ever won a World Series without game-changers on offense. Just ask the Braves of the 1990's…and they had a much better offense than we have. Peanut Butter & Jelly<Hamburger<Steak. We are the hamburger right now and I am hungry for a steak!!!

Fear, LOL LOL LOL!!!! Look at you worried about winning the World Series!!! How about let's get to "meaningful" ball in September? The Nats are SO much better than expected this year!!! I will be happy if we are playing in the wildcard game (given that Stras will be shut down). So Gio will win that one for us and we lose in the divisional series (or whatever is next). Let's get to the playoffs. The Rangers can win the WS this year. We'll win it next year.

I am really hoping to not have to care about the redskins this year. Meaning the NATS are still rolling in August. And they will be. We are the best team in this division. PLEASE NO MORE INJURIES THOUGH!!!!

I am really hoping to not have to care about the redskins this year. Meaning the NATS are still rolling in August. And they will be. We are the best team in this division. PLEASE NO MORE INJURIES THOUGH!!!!

NatsJack…not one good offensive team I mentioned played in the steroid era. Can you read? Judging by youre abilitee to spel…??? St. Louis just won the World Series without their ace for the whole season…would they have won without Pujols last year…not bloody likely!!! Like I said, pitching can maybe get you to the playoffs, but hitting will make the difference between those teams that do make it. Just look at baseball history.NatsLady…my expectations are and have been higher than yours. With 4 guys in the top 20 in ERA, meaningful games in September should not be the goal…making the World Series should be the goal!!!

Seems like the Major League trend these days (not in the past) is pitching, pitching, pitching. Look how many no-hitters there have already been this year! I don't know if the stats bear it out, but it seems like pitching is dominating right now. I hear lots of clubs complaining about offense being down or non-existent. I think we have capable hitters. We just have built-in problems with Zim, Morse and Espi – on and off ALR, too. It is likely that they will all improve. We don't need tons more offense – often one or two more runs seem to be the difference-maker. Det gave up a big fat goose egg in 5 innings today and I like that very much.Can't expect it , though. In my mind if we score 4 definitely, sometimes 3, we can win most games. We got this far with zim, morse and alr on the dl, kind of hurt, or just coming back. Let's see what happens in Colorado.

NatsJack-They lost to like 12 different teams so the steroid era argument doesn't make much sense. Yankees, Padres, Twins, Marlins, Cardinals, Dbacks and Giants off the top of my head. The point is…dominant hitting teams almost always at least make the World Series. The Braves were arguably the best ever pitching staff and they only won once. The best ever hitting teams all went to (and most won) several World Series…Reds, Yankees, Cardinals, Orioles, Blue Jays, Rangers right now and even the Twins and Marlins had above average offenses of multiple World Series participants. The only dynasty-type teams that the Nats could strive to be compared to is maybe the Dodgers with Koufax and Drysdale. I would bet that at least 90% of teams to even make a World Series were in the top 1/3 of baseball in offense. I seriously doubt that would be the case with pitching. All you need in the playoffs is 1 or 2 dominant pitchers and a couple of mediocre pitchers who have good games. I mean…how many of the last 100 WS teams have had dominant staffs…not nearly as many that have had dominant offenses. Dominant pitchers maybe…but not dominant staffs.

What got me on the post game interviews they were grilling Burnett. he has played great all season, so no need to grill.Did they grill TIm TImmons as much after his game last Saturday, which was no different than Burnett's game today?I didn't want to hear Burnett today (I gave him a pass). I did want to hear from Timmons. i doubt it.

ERA down to 2.95 batting average down to .238. Those of us my age remember Eddie Brink,an? His life time average was just a little lower at .224, That is like having 8 Eddie brinkmans almost. That is not very good.

Manassas– agree on Burnett. Running him out three days straight was going to the well too many times. Not that I really blame him or Davey or anyone — it was the consequence of having Druuu out. You don't want to send Gorzy out for the eighth as he's been more of a gopher ball guy against power hitters (think Yanks and Dodgers). If you have three late inning shutdown guys you can alternate eighths and ninths and never have to have any of them go more than two days in a row. To have had this kind of bullpen pitching this far into the season without our 43-save closer is remarkable.

308 — I smiled when I read your remark regarding Wang and quality bullpen sessions. No one ever got a hit off me [or you] in the bullpen. LOL Every bullpen sessionis a quality session from that viewpoint.

NatsLady: If Morse is never going to place 1B again, it isn't because as you say "he needs to learn to field the position." Morse came up as a shortstop — he played 85 games at first base last year, making just six errors and a fielding % of .992. Morse is an excellent first baseman. Making statements that Morse would need to learn to play the position is a ludicrous thing to say and shows ignorance of the game and our players. YOu do that a lot, it seems.

I disagree with you,. MM did an admirable job at first, but even when Chris Marrero came up the difference between the coached first baseman and the fill in first baseman was glaring. Just things like properly covering bunts, for an example. First, like any position has a zillion nuances unique to that position that are learned and mastered by hundreds of reps and good coaching. Morse is a good enough athlete to look pretty good there, but I agree with NatsLady that Morse needs a lot of schooling to be considered to be a " good" 1B. He was a heck of a lot better then Adam Dunn, even if the WAR stats disagree, IMO.

I would still like to know the overall team avg, runs per game, hits, RBI's, etc.. now, compared to the 2007-2009 teams. My theory is that this club statistically may be the worst since 2005. This also proves winning teams all have great pitching. with that said this team may make post season, but will be out quickly if they don't get some bats. I think those bats are in their farm system and that is a good sign.I am so tired Zim and Morse being the weak part of the order and i am done with watching Espi bat left handed. That KO double play was TERRIBLE!!!Burnett gets a mulligan from me today, he is not HRod, he simply got beat, but he wins more than loses

No logic at all with not playing Moore. Davey says Moore needs to play every day… am I in the twilight zone or what… so when he spot plays he is not productive, then Davey says he needs to play, this is so strange!!

natsfan1a said…Do you do windows, by any chance? 😉 Me, I had an ice cream bar and watched a back episode of "Too Cute, Kittens." NatsNut said…I hate to say it, Sofa, but this loss will help me get my house clean. When we win, I spend WAY too much time reviewing every play, every blog, article, etc. etc. When we lose, I prefer cleaning the bathroom. June 24, 2012 5:10 PM

I'm not saying I even want to do it, BUT if we were to go outside the organization for a BAT, and an extra quality STARTER to replace Stras in September, and putting on hold who we'd have to give up:1) who would be that BAT? (and at what position)2) who would be that STARTER?